


Good Karma

by last_ARKangel



Series: Family Matters [2]
Category: Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six (Video Games)
Genre: Angst and Feels, F/F, F/M, Kidnapping, Unplanned Pregnancy, Welcome Home Sex, confident walk of shame anyone?, no one messes with russian papa bear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-13
Updated: 2018-11-02
Packaged: 2019-08-01 16:30:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16287995
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/last_ARKangel/pseuds/last_ARKangel
Summary: Mira receives news that she did not expect. News she most definitely did not wanna hope to hear ever again.





	1. Chapter 1

Soft humming broke the morning silence that Elena had been enjoying after waking up minutes before. The arm wrapped around her stomach grew tighter and she could feel her husband nuzzling the back of her neck. He had only got back from a mission the morning before, Elena being there on the airfield waiting for him. Not even Six could stop the tiny Spanish woman from jumping into her husband's arms, wrapping her legs around him as he lifted her up, kissing her for the first time in a couple months. A debriefing followed despite a protest to Six before the married couple headed back to the Spetsnaz barracks. A knowing look shared from both Timur and Maxim as the couple entered before they left to go join the GSG-9 in the rec room. Normally they would wait to head to their apartment but a couple months was too long for a wait.

Thinking back to the events the afternoon and evening before, Elena smiled and murmured, “Someone missed me. I'm not going away, Alex.” Unlike the Russians who called him Sasha, Elena had settled with a more normal moniker for the name Alexsandr. A booming laugh was muffled by the Russian burying his face in her neck and Elena playfully smacked his arm in return. “Mine. All mine. It’s too early, Ellie. Go back to sleep.” Normally Elena would let him get away with convincing her but the tiny woman also knew they were not in their apartment and would have to do the walk of shame in front of the Spetsnaz boys and Finka so they needed to not take their time.

“If you want Maxim to not make so many lewd jokes then we best get dressed and go eat breakfast with everyone on base,” she said before sitting up, gathering the sheets around her only to leave him butt naked on the bed. Served him right for wanting to waste the day away in bed. Thankfully they kept clothes in the small room in case they both had to stay on base for any reason. No need to try and sneak out in their clothes from the day before so everyone would know what they had did even if Elena wanted to be realistic the base already knew. She bet even the recruits knew. Nothing ever stayed a secret for long at Hereford. 

Elena managed her underwear and pants before a naked Alexsandr wrapped his arms around her from behind, resting his head on the top of hers. It had been almost a year since the miscarriage but they had grown from that. With the exception of the previous evening they had been using protection like crazy at her request. The doctors had already informed her that conceiving a child was already hard enough for her as is but there were options. Adoption had been brushed aside as she had wanted to have her own child. Adoption was for people like Mike and Vicente who’s seven year old daughter Charlotte had been a welcome addition to the family. They had wanted to adopt a child who needed a home not a baby. They had even talked about another kid in a few years as Charlotte had wanted a baby brother or sister after she had seen her friends at school have little siblings. 

Surrogacy was also out for similar reasons and they had already exhausted funds on in vitro treatments that had ended with three miscarriages. Two had never been spoken of to everyone as Elena had not even known at the time she had been pregnant. Only her husband, Six, and Gustave knew the truth. Gustave had kept the secret for the past few years, not even telling Elena’s fellow CTU member as well as his lover, Ryad. Six had been told as soon as the good ol’ team medic had requested the engineer have some medical leave. While she was a fierce woman with a no nonsense attitude, Six had given the couple all the time they needed to recuperate each time. 

The Spanish woman tried not to focus on the past but instead on her needy husband. She was well aware of what he wanted as she felt the kisses on her neck and a certain something at her back. An amused smirk graced her features as she teased him a bit by pressing back into him, grinding her hips a bit. The resulting groan was worth it. Perhaps she would give him what he wanted before she left to eat. It was tempting for sure. Turning in his grip to face him, Elena gave a wry grin before she dropped to her knees. The look on Alexsandr’s face as she sucked him off was all too telling. As were the sounds he couldn’t force down. The knowing looks and giggles after they finished getting dressed from Timur and Shuhrat was enough to make Elena walk a little prouder to the canteen while her husband was beet red as he knew he would be getting the jokes all day.

\-------------------------------------------------------

A month later Elena found herself feeling ill, waves of nausea hit as she left the canteen after breakfast. Emma and her had been discussing how to test the durability to the mirrors with her shock drones when suddenly the taller woman found herself excusing herself as she dashed to the women’s bathroom and emptied herself of all the contents from her stomach into the toilet. Emma followed worried but Elena reassured her that things were fine. She probably had just got some bug. She would see Gustave and get something for her stomach and it would be alright. With the reassurance, the French operator let her head to the sickbay all on her own with a promise that she be told what the diagnosis was.

Elena preferred to avoid the sickbay at all costs, not much liking hospitals and what they meant. The last time she had been there due to something not related to work had been when Gustave had given her the news about the baby she would never bring to term. It was a sore subject still. The good doctor was at his desk working on paperwork when he spied her standing in the doorway. “What can I do for you, Elena? Alexsandr hurt himself again and you need assistance or something personal? Please tell me this isn’t related to Ryad. I love that man but he is a walking magnet for trouble sometimes.” The woman shook her head as she stepped into the room and sat across him with a huff. “I’m only here because I threw up my breakfast, Gustave. I wanted to make sure it isn’t food poisoning or some stomach bug. Nothing too big a deal,” she said with an exasperated look on her face. She was not Ryad’s keeper contrary to popular belief that she knew how to wrangle him safely. Her fellow G.E.O member was the way that he was and she knew the man opposite her could handle him better than she could. The medic watched her and asked her, “It hasn’t been enough time for food poisoning to have shown symptoms and you have your flu shot. Have you been around anyone sick?” A shake of her head earned a hesitant frown and a question she had not even expected. “Elena could you possibly be pregnant? I know it’s a hard-” A hand held up in his face stopped the words from finishing as the woman opposite him looked stone faced and angry. “You know we stopped trying. We always use protection. We don’t have sex while drunk to avoid this issue. I can’t be. The last time we did things without a condom was...” 

Elena suddenly remembered that night. Every touch of his hands upon her skin as he made love slowly. Two months of an undercover operation had kept him in the field. They had not bothered with protection, only wanting each other. Instinctively as she was lost in the memories, Elena reached up and brushed her neck where he had marked her up as he pushed into her roughly. Memories that only made her wonder if Gustave’s suspicions were possibly correct. He motioned towards the exam table as he wordlessly got up and fetched the equipment to give her an ultrasound. Elena bit her lip and went along with it, lying down and pulling her shirt up enough to expose her stomach. The cool jelly squeezed onto her stomach caused her to flinch at first but as he started the ultrasound there it was. A second heartbeat. Gustave looked at her with all the sympathy of a good friend before stating the now obvious, “Elena, you are indeed pregnant. Would you like me to call for Alex? I’m gonna need to inform Six and prescribe you some prenatal vitamins. That is if you want to keep the child. The decision is ultimately yours and your husband’s.”

For once in her life Elena had a decision to make that she had no answer to. She had no choice. She had to tell Alex everything. She couldn’t do this alone.


	2. A Phoenix Burns

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Pregnancy has it's risks. Especially for an operator in Rainbow

Once she had sorted out the prescriptions Gustave gave her, Elena found herself taking her own time to find her husband. A quick stop by the rec room had earned her information from James and Mike, both of whom were cuddled on the couch as they watched a movie together. Alex and his boys were out running test rushes with some recruits to give them a chance to practice before their final tests to see if they could be deployed around the world. As she approached she saw her husband was nowhere to be found as Maxim barked orders at the recruits storming the building. Sounded like they were trying to get a better time than before.

The brunette hopped onto one of the stone ledges near Maxim, earning a friendly nod from the Russian before he continued his drill sergeant callouts. Elena felt the chill in the morning air as she pulled the coat she had borrowed from Alex around her chest, thankful for it since she didn't have anything on base warm enough to wear. The coffee she had brought with her was her only other saving grace as she tried to be patient for the drill test to end. Asked was on the defending side, making sure his half of the recruits knew their jobs. By the time the defense was declared successful, Alex and Maxim shared banter about what had happened. Apparently Maxim was none too pleased about how his recruits had lost to Alex and his merry band of recruits.

Elena hopped down, clutching the oversized military coat around herself as she walked over to the two best friends arguing. Stepping between her husband and Maxim, the tiny woman placed a single hand on each of their chests. The recruits who knew nothing of her relationship to the men before her called out for her to stay out of it or she would get hurt. Scoffing at the attempts to stop her actions as she shouted loudly, “Cállense, cabrones!” Everyone including the two Spetsnaz officers shut up and turned towards the Spanish woman. Elena couldn’t help but hope if her luck finally came into play and she had the child then she would be this lucky to stop their own tantrums. Before Maxim could open his mouth she raised a finger to shush him. 

“I don't wanna hear it. Maxim take the loss while I steal away my husband. I have stuff to discuss with him,” her eyes locked with the Russian trapper as she spoke before grabbing Alex's arm and dragging away the giant defender away. Her husband was stunned silent while the recruits watched open mouthed. Alexsandr had learned well before they had said I do to one another that it was best to not argue with Elena. An independent woman who carried herself with all the passion of a sturdy attack dog. She had been hard to woo but worth it in the long run. It wasn't till they were out of earshot that he opened his mouth to ask what was going on only for her to drag him into one of the empty hangers. A quick look around before Mira grabbed her husband’s hands. No time like the present but she needed to tell him no matter what.

The Russian tilted his head expectedly until he took her tiny form all in. Dwarfed in a coat that went to her knees and too big sleeves that had to be rolled up a bit, Elena looked even smaller but behind the heavy clothes he could see her body trembling, hands in his clammy as they shook. Her face might have been full of determination but her body said otherwise. “Ellie you’re trembling. What is wrong?” For the first time in a long time Elena avoided her husband’s gaze as she whispered, “I...I’m pregnant, Alex. Gustave just gave me the news and he told me to come and talk to you so we can decide if we are gonna keep the child. I told you I can’t do this again. I don’t wanna do this again but part of me wants to fight for this child even if with our luck won’t last till I’m even showing. I’m scared.”

Of all the things Elena could have told the Russian, this was the thing he least expected to hear. A mix of emotions swirled his brain. On one hand he was concerned about the psychological outcome it would have were she to lose her fourth child to another miscarriage. On the other however he knew she wanted a child so bad and had told him many times that she felt he would make a great father one day. Sure a part of him wanted to be a dad but it was outweighed by his concern for her mental and physical wellbeing. Pulling her into a warm hug, the Russian kissed the top of her head as he murmured to her softly, “The decision is ultimately yours. I have no say in what you wanna do with your body and if you think it is best then we can schedule an appointment with Gustave to terminate. I want you to be okay and if this is too much of a burden then I understand. We can always look into other options even if I know they aren’t ideal.”

Once while they had started to seriously date, Alex recalled Ryad telling him one evening during a night out with some of the operators that Elena was a strong woman but needed a rock and if he wasn’t willing to be that rock when she inevitably cracked then he wasn’t worth her time. At the time Alex had scoffed and told the Spaniard that he knew what he was doing and to give Elena more credit. As time had passed he had realized just how right Ryad had been about his good friend. She built up herself to be a tough persona but deep down she had her own issues about herself. A perfectionist with a need to be extremely self critical. That had been the first thing he had noticed when she had been designing the shield for his turret.

The deafening silence between them was finally shattered as Elena muttered into his chest, “I wanna try one last time. I'm already attached and I don't wanna give up now. I need to let Gustave know tomorrow so he can inform Six.” The decision was made sure but they still had to wait to see if they could pass the first trimester as it had been their biggest hurdle while trying for kids. Elena had a few weeks left before she would even risk telling anyone. As she stood there, she hugged her husband close before he lifted her chin up so she faced him. The kiss he planted upon her lips was soft and gentle, conveying all the love he had for her and their unborn child. Pulling away, the tall Russian crouched down and cradled her still flat stomach. “Soon little one. Soon enough I’ll get to meet you and you will make me and your mama proud. Won’t she, Ellie?” Elena gave him an amused look as she commented, “Who’s to say we are having a daughter? We could be having a son that looks just like you.” “Because I know you are destined for a girl that has your eyes and personality.” This was a too familiar argument but it never got settled. Elena had always pictured Alex wanting a son but he seemed bound and determined to have a daughter to spoil rotten. Not that she minded. Nor did she mind the fact he stood and picked her up, muttering about how he was going to celebrate the pregnancy properly. 

A few weeks later...

A slight bump had formed from Elena’s stomach but as the cold air had gotten even worse with the winter, no one thought her extra layers to hide the evidence was out of character. Gustave had been giving her strict restrictions on mission duties. If she wanted the pregnancy to go to term she was grounded and for her own sake so was Alex much to both their annoyance. It had taken Six’s orders to make them listen. In the meantime the morning sickness had hit full throttle, the engineer none too pleased that her breakfast never lasted. The main problem however was that people began to guess just what was going on. The official claim was that she was fighting back a bad case of the flu but that was bought by no one. Zofia was the first to figure things out as she caught Elena about to leave the bathroom for the third time in a day. A few questions later led to Elena sobbing from the hormones as the Polish woman comforted her.

The next to find out was Marius and Shuhrat as they were both there when she had a breakdown over breaking one of her mirrors. The two men unable to to figure out how to help called Gustave. Elena made them swear to not tell anyone but within a week it seemed every operator knew the truth of the emotional mess. It wasn’t till Elena hit the fourteen week mark that she truly felt comfortable with the thought of her baby surviving to term. At that point the bump was considerably noticeable and everyone knew without a doubt that there would be another Rainbow child. Charlotte and Renata had been the only ones so far, both girls happy that they would be getting a pseudo little sibling. Elena had been taking all the advice of their parents to heart as she and Alexsandr were busy getting the apartment ready. They had turned their guest room into a nursery with the help of the Spetsnaz, GSG-9, and Ryad while Gustave had spent the time with Zofia helping Elena work on ways to make the aches and pain bearable. The building of baby furniture had been banned for the engineer and she had needed time away to avoid backseat direction giving. Thankfully the pregnant Elena was distracted by her weird cravings that had turned many a head while she requested the good doctor to get her. Timur almost puked on the carpet after he overheard her asking for someone to get her cheesecake with vinegar to pour onto it along with some spicy peppers. 

The months got harder and as she reached the end of the second trimester, there was a secret that not many people knew about the pregnancy. Gustave had learned something interesting a few months in but had been something he swore to protect the knowledge of. Elena and Alex had been gifted with something special for their patience it seemed to the Frenchman. High risk pregnancies were not his specialty but him and Lera had been hard at work to make sure she would be fine till labor hit and Elena’s water broke. No one suspected how wrong things would actually be going when one day the Spaniard had been headed to lunch with some of the female operators when she felt hands grab her from behind. Screams silenced with the chloroform as the woman was knocked clean out from the chemical. Zofia, Monika, Emma and Lera had been waiting for a woman who would never come. The White Masks had planned their kidnapping well.

Alex got the phone call asking where she was but all he had known was she had left an hour prior. Then the ransom call came to Six’s office. Eliza and Gustave had been the ones to inform the Russian of his wife’s capture but all anyone heard was the loud swearing and a door slamming, Alex pushing past his fellow operators as he stormed into Six’s office ignoring the pleas of her secretary. The anger in his voice was clear as he shouted, “WHERE THE FUCK HAVE THEY TAKEN MY WIFE!?!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I might very well be Satan for that chapter but I do love cliffhangers ;)


	3. Courage Under Fire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Operation Rescue Mira is a go

Six was a hard to shake woman as she had been in the business of black ops based operations for longer than many. She knew Alex would be a loose cannon once he heard the news of his wife’s capture. It was why she had sat in her chair, calmly letting him scream his question at her face.The woman watched the anger on his face but as soon as he stopped yelling to breathe she took her chance to speak. “Mister Senaviev, I am well aware of your reasons for storming my office however I am not going to withhold information from you. Operator Elena María Álvarez, Codename Mira has been officially reported as captured by the terrorist group known only as the White Masks. A rescue mission is already being planned with Operator Eliza Cohen, Codename Ash taking the lead.”

The giant of a Russian man stared his boss down as he took in her words. Eliza was a competent leader in the right hands but she was impulsive and sometimes jumped first and shot without thinking. Not to mention her not so great rivalry with his wife. “Surely there are better operators for the job. One’s who are more likely to take care in how they plan things,” Alex asked hesitantly. Hopefully the woman would respect his opinions towards the choice in operator in charge of the mission. While Eliza was competent he was not sure she was the best choice in leader. Six seemed to ponder his question for a minute before simply replying, “With the exception of you who would you see as a possible replacement?” 

“Perhaps Operators Cowden, Imagawa, or Trace. They are all more about teamwork and good leaders. I would also like to personally recommend a few from my own unit for this assignment. Operator Glazkov has excellent intel gathering skills as a sniper and Operator Basuada is quite adept at stealth and thinning out targets.” Alex knew his desired team but he would defer to Six as she was his boss. If she disagreed on his opinions however he still would not be pleased with the actions being taken. This was his wife and he would not take any risks on her or their unborn child’s life. Six watched him carefully before taking a stand from her seat and walking towards the window overlooking the base. Without looking back at the Russian operator, the woman finally spoke, “I will inform Operator Cohen that she will be deferring her lead to Operator Cowden. While I agree Operators Imagawa and Trace are both competent leaders we both know the difficulties that those options face. Yumiko has less experience in a leadership position for her to be chosen and Jordan while a very strong leader in his own right won’t work for the same reason you won’t. I will not have personal relationships interfere with a mission till I know people can handle it. I would prefer not risking it on a mission with so much at stake. Now I want you to inform Timur and Maxim that they have two hours to get their gear ready before Operator Streicher leaves without them. I want you here coordinating with Cowden and that is my final decision Alexsandr. Dismissed.” While he wanted nothing more than to help more, Alex knew fighting Six could end in him being suspended. He would take the wins he had been given and do his job. Saluting and retreating to the Spetsnaz quarters, he had operators to brief and send out. Elena hopefully not paying for the time they were taking to rescue her. 

Meanwhile Elena was far from comfortable, having woke from the drugs tied to a chair in a dimly lit room. It felt straight out of a Hollywood criminal drama, her eyes squinting at the men in masks surrounding her. Her mind swirled as she tried to fit all the pieces together about how she had gotten into this mess. She had been headed out to join a few of her fellow female operators but after that was a drugged blur as she tugged at her restraints. The kevlar rope burned her wrists as she tried to work them off. The engineer had been trained in this sort of situation but pregnancy had made things a little harder. Elena knew she had to stall till help arrived, Alex not being one to let her and his unborn child go abandoned. The White Masks were the ultimate enemy of the past few years, Elena knowing her work had been noted in her own home country but now as an operator of Rainbow she was considered one of the elite. People knew her handiwork and it wasn’t hard after she and Alex had been married that they connected where they had met.

Her guards stared down at her behind their disguises, only their eyes showing the malicious intent they held for her. One with whom she assumed was the leader stalked forward, hand lifting her chin so she could face up at him properly. Eyes glared the man down as he commented with a very thick accent, “My my we’ve got a little bitch in our possession. Nice to finally meet you, Miss Álvarez. Or should I say Mrs. Senaviev? Our files show you took your Russian bastard husband’s last name. Perhaps if you tell us about your organization we could work it out where your husband lives. If not well...you will find out soon enough.” Not even bothering with giving up her friends, Elena spat into his face, shouting, “Jódete, puta!” The man grimaced before he slapped her hard across the face. The hand connecting with her cheek stung but she was not gonna tell them anything.

“You fucking, bitch! I will make sure you talk before the night is through.” Elena knew that was only the beginning as she waited for her rescue. The woman tried to keep focused on keeping her child safe. That would be her motivation to hang on if the torture got too bad for her to fight back. In a matter of an hour the pregnant woman had blood dripping down from her broken nose and a cut on her lip. Thankfully they had avoided her stomach but she didn’t wanna give them any ideas towards it. Fighting back the pain from the torment was getting harder with every hit. As the night started to fall it was then that the gunfire could be heard in Elena's ears. Rainbow had arrived at last.

Seamus led the charge with Timur taking a sniper position to keep an eye for enemy positions on the outside. It had started with stealth, Marius having dropped them off a decent distance away. Taina and Chul Kyung took out the outer patrols with ease. Things only went to hell when Eliza and Seamus broke down the wrong wall trying to enter. The alarm had been alerted and both breachers had to duck behind Elias and Gilles’ shields to avoid the worst of the crossfire. Maxim managed to rig some traps on the other side however, causing a decent distraction. It was all the attackers needed to breach the defenses. While the shields pressed forward, Seamus and Eliza relayed back to headquarters and the team that they had entered the building. Alex let out one small sigh of relief, knowing things were working so far. Mike and Vicente had stayed back at Hereford with him to help give orders as to what the teams would be doing.

Emma’s drones had done the final surveillance and taken out most cams on site while Ryad tracked the last few roaming terrorists. A clean sweep was in progress till they found the room they were looking for. Heavily barricaded, Elena had been tossed into the corner and guarded while the masked terrorists shouted in a language she recognized as Arabic. Ryad had tried many times to teach her but had failed every single time. The problem was only getting worse as the operators were having a hard time breaching through without harming her. It wasn’t the only hang-up the team would be forced to deal with as Elena felt stabbing pains in her abdomen and the floor was soon covered in a clear liquid. Her water had broke and the woman had to stop herself from crumpling inwards from the pain. She wasn’t scheduled to have her babies for another week but it seemed they were bound and determined to come now of all times.

Sure she had had her fair share of false alarms that had led her and Alex to rush to Doc in the middle of the night only for him to send them back to their room as the braxton hicks contractions had been the only thing out of the norm. But now it was well apparent that she was not getting them but instead actual contractions. A door was blown open with a breach charge, Elena turning away from the entrance to avoid the splinters. Gilles’ familiar shield an unforgiving wall in front of the terrorists while Elias flashed the ones closest to them. A sharp pain hit her in the side, something piercing her flesh. The pain on top of being in labor was terrible. Her vision was fading as she saw the blood staining her shirt. Once all the gunshots stopped she wearily looked up at Gilles’ face as he lifted her in his arms. She could hear Gustave’s accent as he shouted instructions. Her eyes closed and when they opened again she heard the whirring of a helicopter’s blades, Gustave calling out to her, “Elena I need you to stay with me. I need you to look at me. You are safe and we are almost back to base. You need to let me know if you feel any contractions, mon amie.” All Elena could manage was a small nod as she wearily glanced around the helicopter. The operators closest to her caught her attention. Maxim and Timur both held their guns tightly as they took their job of guarding their teammate’s wife as top priority. Gustave was busy trying to keep the bleeding from getting excessive while he watched her vitals. She suspected Elias was in the cockpit with Marius, keeping his friend company as they silently headed home to Hereford Base.

The flight back ended soon enough and Elena barely registered Alex rushing to her side as she was rushed to the medical bay. Vision slipped as he grasped her hand, Elena not able to make out what he said before she slipped into an unconscious state. Alex was forced to watch her be taken from as Lera blocked him from following the medical team headed by Gustave. “Lera let me through! That is my wife in there.” The Belarusian woman stared him down, knowing perfectly well that he wanted nothing more than to tear the door down to be by her side. Her eyes cold as she stated firmly, “Sasha no. If you want Gustave to save your wife and your unborn child then-” “Children.” Lera paused in confusion as the man before her spoke firmly. Alex stared on back, words clear as day as he spoke saying, “She’s carrying twins. Gustave told us it was a good chance we’d lose one based on her medical history but everything had been good so far so we held hope. Apparently the doc never told you as we asked it of him. If things went wrong we’d keep quiet but I might not have anyone I care about left alive if he cannot save all three of them.”

Staring back at the tired and angry Russian, Lera shook her head before grabbing his arm and leading him to the doors outside the room they had readied for trauma surgery before the retrieval of Elena. Alex’s heart sank as he watched his wife being prepped for surgery, a mask on her face giving her oxygen and anesthesia. Gustave looked up and frowned behind his mask, surgical gown being put on. His furrowed brow relaxed as he saw the heartbroken facial expression on Alex’s face. “I don’t wanna lose her. She’s my everything, Lera,” the Russian spoke as he was finally led to the rec room to wait. It seemed as if every operator was there in some capacity waiting for the results. The Germans minus Dominic all cuddled together on one of the couches. The battery wielding German however was cuddled up with Ela in front of them on the floor, Ela’s face buried into his neck as he held her close. The SWAT and SEALS were sitting around the table depressed. The French minus Gustave had taken up the second couch along with Ryad who looked as pale as could be while he waited on his best friend’s results. The Canadians stood vigil near the door, ready to let everyone know if news was headed their way. Vicente had left to stay with Charlotte while Mike stayed with Taina and the SAS boys. Zofia had also had to return home to her husband and Renata but she had wanted updates as they came. The Koreans along with the Chinese duo were making everyone coffee in the canteen so people could stay awake. Everyone else was scattered among the groups. 

It wasn’t till nearly one in the morning that they got news. Elena was in stable condition and so were the twins. Both were in incubators while Elena rested. They would be monitoring everything carefully in hopes that after the first twenty-four hours they would be in the clear for the highest dangers. Gustave motioned for Alex to follow him while the remainder of Rainbow waited patiently. As they stopped outside the door to the medbay, Gustave turned to Alex with a grim look on his face. This was where the hammer dropped or so Alex thought. “Elena is doing fine. Her vitals are good as are the twins’. I’m here to inform you before you can see your newborn son and daughter that this will be difficult. They are smaller as all twins are but most twins make it another week before being born. Ideally babies should make term but twins and above will never achieve that as you have been told. I just want you it understand they will take time before they can go home. Elena should be out of here once we make sure her body can handle things. Either way she will be on a lot of bed rest whenever possible. I trust you to make sure of that. Now take this mask and put it on so you don’t spread germs to the twins. Follow me.”

With that Gustave led Alex to where they had constructed their own version of a NICU. The twins were hooked up to machines while they monitored their vitals. Elena and him had already discussed names for the twins long before. As he peered at his daughter his heart swelled up with pure love. “My little Arisha. You are perfect, little one,” his words unusually soft for a man known for his booming voice. Then as he turned to see his slightly smaller son a swell of pride hit him as he murmured, “Diego, my son. You look just like your mother with your dark hair.” In fact his daughter’s hair was much lighter like his own sandy blond hair while his son favored baby pictures of Elena his father in-law had shown him after they had told him about the babies. He had been so happy to hear he would be a grandfather. Alex’s family had been overjoyed at the news though for various reasons Elena was hesitant in bringing the children into Russia. The Spetsnaz officers in Rainbow all had mixed views on the motherland, ranging from Alex’s hesitant patriotism to Timur’s outright disdain for national pride. Alex had said if they did retire they would be retreating to Spain and Elena wanted nothing more than to take over her father’s business when the life of Rainbow got too much. For now though Alex was content that his family was safe. 

Three months later...

A loud cry wailed out in the night, a tired Elena awoke. Before she could sleepily try to orient herself, Alex whispered, “Go back to sleep. I’ll see what she wants.” Elena didn’t have the strength to argue as she fell right back asleep, worn out from the nighttime feeding earlier. Alex pulled himself out of bed and made his way to the nursery. Slipping into the room he spied his daughter crying up a storm. Softly he shushed her as he lifted his child into his arms, rocking her gently. Arisha stopped crying as soon as he started rocking her. Alex sat down in the rocking chair and smiled down at his daughter. He had once thought his life would be married to his line of work but now that he had a wife and kids he knew better. Being a husband and father had changed him as a human being. As he hummed a Russian lullaby, his thoughts were simply of how happy he truly was. Love had changed him as had family. For the first time in his life he felt at peace.


End file.
